democracy. No need to dwell upon that machinery, worked by the Secretary of State for India, and so familar to the minds of all of us. Sufficient to say that, as Lord Morley has stated, "the democratic constituencies of this kingdom are the rulers of India."
The last feature of the constitution is the one that has been so much before the public eye since the Act of 1909. At home, a powerful hand had seized the rudder and shaken out more sail. Lord Morley inaugurated a momentous departure in the highest departments of state. At the close of 1908 the King-Emperor himself, by proclamation to the princes and peoples of India, took occasion to explain its purport: "From the first, the principle of representative institutions began to be gradually introduced, and the time has come when that principle may be prudently extended. Important classes among you, representing the ideas that have been fostered and encouraged by British rule, claim equality of citizenship and a greater share in legislation and government. The politic satisfaction of such a claim will strengthen, not impair, existing authority and power."
It is desirable to attend to the precise bearing of the changes thus indicated upon the central and culminating authority of the government of India.
From the earliest times of the Indian constitution, from 1773 at any rate, there existed under statute a governor-general and a small council, in
